Halo: The Harvest counterattack
by Mr. X
Summary: Name pretty much says it all, its about the counterattack on Harvest by UNSC after it is taken by the Covanent. Chapters 2 and 3 added and Chapter 1 changed R&R!
1. In Transit

Author's Note: This was inspired after reading the book Halo: The Fall of Reach. I loved the story and especially the space combat. The ground battles were amazing to so I will probably write about them after this one is finished. (If I finish it). Anyway R&R everyone! P.S This is my first Halo fic but not my first fic.  
  
P.P.S all this stuff really belongs to Microsoft and Eric Nylund and I'm just borrowing their source material. Just thought I'd bring that up.  
  
0900 Hours, September 18, 2531 (military calendar) /  
  
UNSC destroyer Orion, Wulpan sector, Archon star system,  
  
high orbit above Archon  
  
Lieutenant Wesley Foreman sat at his station on Orion, his fingers darting across the keyboard, eyes scanning the readouts. The bridge of Orion had monitors and screens on every wall monitoring the systems and output of the ship a metal rail ringed the raised platform behind the bridge crew's "brain cradle", as it was colloquially known. The cradle was merely the depression at the front of the ship just below the viewscreen. Wesley stared lazily at his own screen. His movements quick and focused were deceptive as to his true task. He was merely checking the output of the Orion's fusion reactor. Even so he was fast. As a navigational officer he prided himself on being the fastest pilot on a ship as large as a destroyer. He switched to the fore camera and the planet Archon sprang onto his screen. He looked on intently, trying so see how much detail he could make out on the planet's surface; it was a game he sometimes played when he wasn't busy. Wesley heard the door at the aft of the bridge hiss open. He glanced around to see commander Johnothan Quincy stride on deck. As was customary on the bridge none of the bridge crew was required to salute. Their duties sometimes left them with little time for such formalities. Commander Quincy observed the four junior lieutenants of his bridge crew at work with satisfaction; he walked to his chair and sat down. 'Sendai how is the reactor shakedown going?' he said to seemingly nobody. 'Sir, reactor shakedown is ninety percent complete and in Zulu cycle, completion in four minutes.' A disembodied female voice said. The ship's AI was reporting in. 'Thank you Sendai.' 'Your welcome commander.' Lieutenant Allison send a message to Admiral Cole's fleet, inform him we'll be arriving soon.' Said Quincy, turning his chair to face a young woman with blonde hair manning the COM. 'Aye sir.' She replied. 'Lieutenant Foreman, when the shakedown is complete please give us best speed for rally point Echo.' 'Aye sir.' Lieutenant Raker, weapons status?' 'Sir, MAC guns at zero percent charge, archer missile pods ready to fire, Shiva warheads prepped and ready. Also sir the 50mm guns are at 100% ammunition.' Quincy nodded in acknowledgement, Raker was a competent officer and Quincy trusted the man to do his duty without question. Lieutenant Wellard manned the ops post, a brilliant man; some people compared him to an AI. Quincy leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes for a moment before straightening back up and checking the small computer set into his armrest. 'Commander, reactor shakedown is complete, engines to full power.' Came the voice of Wesley as he started typing even faster than before. 'ETA fifteen minutes at full power.' The fifteen minutes passed uneventfully as the destroyer moved off from Archon and towards the nebula at rally point Echo. 'Sir, Echo rally point visible, approaching now.' Wesley reported. 'On screen.' Quincy ordered. The blank forward view screen activated to show the rally point. Seven ships hovered around the nav buoy that had been set up. A destroyer, a carrier, four frigates, a single massive cruiser, and now the Orion made up the group. 'Transmission from the cruiser sir, ship-wide, audio only.' Lieutenant Allison reported. 'Patch it through.' A voice came through the speakers. 'This is Captain Garland of the UNSC cruiser Epsilon, all ships begin warming Shaw-Fujikawa generators and prepare to enter slipstream space on my mark.' The transmission cut out. 'You heard him lieutenant Wellard, begin powering up the generators.' 'Aye sir.' Came Wellard's reply as he began tapping away at his console. Moments later a ping sounded through the bridge speakers as a signal for the jump was given. Light swirled and altered as the ships were sucked into the alternate dimension. Moments later the whirl of activity stopped and space was quiet again. Not a sign remained of their passing. 


	2. To Victory

Author's Note: I've revamped the first chapter and I've added this and one other so R&R!  
  
  
  
0945 Hours, September 18, 2531 (Military Calendar) /  
  
UNSC cruiser Dominion, Wulpan sector, Suddan star system  
  
High orbit above Suddan  
  
  
  
Admiral Preston Cole sat in his quarters contemplating his course of action. He was sipping a soda -as no alcohol was permitted on duty- and examining a mess of papers that cluttered his normally pristine desk. This was going to be one of UNSC's largest offensives against the Covenant in years. In fact it was their only offensive in the years since they had made contact with the Covenant. UNSC had always played defense, a running fight, they needed to gain some lost ground, and more importantly they needed a victory. As of yet there had been no decisive victories for UNSC and moral was slipping. What was needed was a triumph; something to show the rest of the human race that survival was possible. The planned offensive was set to go against the first planet the Covenant had glassed, Harvest. UNSC thought that if they could show the Covenant that they could fight back it might slow them down. It was a long shot. So that was what Cole was doing here in Wulpan. As one of the senior members in UNSC it had fallen to him to plan, command, and carry out the attack. They had given him control of a large fleet of some of the finest ships and captains in UNSC. All told he had under his command three cruisers (including his own), seven destroyers and some twenty odd frigates and carriers. ONI had been quite through in their assessment of the garrison at Harvest and Cole was informed that there were at most a dozen Covenant ships holding orbit above Harvest. The intercom chimed and a voice came in over the speaker 'Admiral Cole sir, the last installment of ships has just exited slipspace and is assembling with the rest of the fleet.' The admiral looked up from his papers, his dark brown hair slightly shadowing his watery grey eyes. 'Thank you Quixos, inform my tactical officers and staff to assemble in the war room in five minutes.' 'Yes sir.' The voice replied and then cut the link. Quixos was the Dominion's AI, he was a "smart" AI and all business. The admiral stood and brushed some lint from his smooth uniform. He grabbed all the relevant papers and slid them into his briefcase before donning his peaked cap and striding out.  
  
Commander Quincy leaned on the metal rail above the "brain cradle" and stared out the main viewscreen. They had just exited slipspace above Suddan and were approaching the massed fleet. The commander looked on with a hint of pride visible as he saw the UNSC ships arrayed in formation above the planet. They looked unstoppable, matte black and glistening metal hulls reflecting the light of Suddan's star. The sheer amount of firepower evident in every Archer missile pod and MAC gun protruding from the hulls. They would win, with this much force how could they not. 'Commander, we are taking up assigned positions within the fleet, orders coming in to stand by for slipspace jump.' The voice of Lieutenant Foreman snapped the commander out of his reverie. 'Very good, Lieutenant Wellard, warm the Shaw Fujikawa generators back up and standby for my order to jump.' The officer tapped a few keys. 'Aye sir, generators at ten percent power and climbing.' Wellard reported. Good they were ready. He could see it in the way they moved, the way they responded to his commands, they knew what they were to face and they relished the chance to do so. The commander sat back down and waited, he was ready to.  
  
The admiral entered the "war room" as his people called it. It was the tactical nerve center of his cruiser and as such of the whole battle as well. The room was hexagonal with computers and stations on every face, with technicians and ensigns running diagnostics and tests on the ship's systems. This was his world, where he belonged. His staff stood around the large hexagonal table in the center of the room peering down at the tactical display grid that covered it. In all he had four advisors, two tactical, two general. As well he had several other officers who had been invited to watch the battle up close. Who invited them onto his ship he didn't know but when this was over he intended to find that person and make their life ten times harder. He hated interference especially from a bunch of political guinea pigs. Still he masked his feelings and wore an unreadable expression. The doors hissed shut and he strode to the table. 'A pleasure to meet you all.' He said as politely as he could manage. They nodded to him some extending hands and words, which he took rather quickly and dropped just as fast. 'Well gentlemen if you'll excuse me I have a battle to win.' Some chuckled lightly, a hollow gesture that meant nothing to them. The admiral turned to his advisors who stopped conversing and looked up from the table at him. 'What is the status of the fleet, number one?' The admiral numbered his advisors from one to four so that in combat he saved the precious seconds used spitting out their names for issuing orders. He knew each of them personally of course and had the utmost respect for all of them so they took this system easily. 'The fleet is fully assembled and waiting for the order to go to slipspace.' 'Tactics what have you got?' He said placing his case on the floor next to him. Number two piped up. 'Sir, we believe we have come up with a suitable plan.' He pointed down at the grid, which switched from the view of the fleet to an overhead electronic analysis of Harvest. 'Each destroyer will be assigned about two frigates or carriers each.' The display showed seven blue dots appear at the edge of the screen with two smaller green dots each.' 'Now we will be entering the system at this point.' He said pointing at the edge of the map where the dots were. 'We have a strategy that will box in the Covenant forces.' The advisor said. As he spoke a group of purple dots appeared stationed around the planet. 'The positions of the ships are based on Intel provided by ONI as well as estimations by some of UNSC's leading tacticians. The second tactical advisor took over. 'Now what we are suggesting is to split their fire and trap them in a crossfire from our own ships.' He pointed down as silver lines emanated from the dots and traced their flight paths across the display with countdown timers and ETA estimations next to them. 'Battle groups one and two assisted by a cruiser will slingshot around the darkside of the planet and hit the Covenant's rear.' 'Groups three and four will hit them straight on from entry in a frontal attack, assisted by the remaining two cruisers.' 'Group five will arc wide to the right and hit their open flank.' 'And finally, groups six and seven will be the tongs, coming from below and above, catching the enemy between our forces.' The dots enacted this action as number one spoke. The first two groups wrapped around Harvest and came in behind the Covenant while another set of dots proceeded straight towards them from the point of entry. The next dot came around wide to the right and crushed the purple dots into the planet. The map switched to a 3D hologram and rose up off the table as the last dots came from above and below and hit the Covenant. The dots then slowly morphed into 3 dimensional holo ships, which traded, fire with the sharp angular Covenant craft. The admiral studied the battle as it raged on, a look of deep concentration on his face. Finally he blinked once and spoke to his advisors. 'Good work all of you, I will handle this ship's maneuvers and tactics from here personally.' The advisors nodded and started talking amongst themselves again. 'Number three, broadcast the organizational orders to the fleet and ensure every ship knows what group they are in and what the plan is to be. I will be making a final address after that and then we will make the jump.' His advisor nodded and hurried out. The admiral looked around at the bustling activity of the war room and let a small smile cross his face; they were going to win.  
  
'Sir, we have just received a transmission from the flagship Dominion, it's the battle plan sir.' Lieutenant Allison reported this to Commander Quincy as the secure transmission appeared on her screen. 'Transfer it to my station Lieutenant.' Quincy said. 'Aye sir.' The commander looked over at his armrest computer as the battleplan from the admiral appeared on his screen. He studied it for a few minutes before he was satisfied that he knew it well enough. He transferred the plan onto the viewscreen. 'Crew, this is the battle plan for our attack on Harvest, I want you to study and understand it.' Quincy said. He left the plan up for a few minutes as he watched his crew look it over. He was pleased to see nods of approval from his bridge crew as they committed the plan to memory. Once he was satisfied that they knew it he tapped a few keys and it blinked off screen. He transferred the plan to Sendai. 'Sendai, this is the battle plan, please commit it to memory.' He waited for a reply. 'Commander, I have stored the plans in my memory unit and I understand the designs.' 'Very good Sendai.' 'Commander, incoming broadcast from the Dominion, fleet-wide sir.' Lieutenant Allison said. 'Patch it through lieutenant.' The face of Admiral Cole appeared the main viewscreen. 'This is Admiral Cole speaking, I trust you all have received the battle plan orders and understand them fully. I need not remind you that we are going up against the Covenant, a race technologically superior to our own, we have never attacked them only ran from their weapons, but today we are going to do just that, attack them. We will take back what is ours and we will not back down or shrink away until every last one of them is sent back to hell where they belong!' The admiral accentuated each word as he drove them home; a fire appeared behind his normally calm grey eyes, which gave him an air of indomitable fury and power. 'Now power your weapons and remove all safeties, we will break them and we-will-triumph!' With that the transmission ended and the screen reverted to the view of the fleet. The commander felt his heart leap at those stirring words he was vital and energized and he was ready to fight! 'Lieutenant!' he barked swiveling his chair to face Wesley 'Sir!' He replied snapping straight in his chair. 'Bring us about point one four declination and rendezvous with battle group one on the double!' 'Yes sir!' 'Lieutenant Raker remove safety interlocks on all weapons, prep a Shiva and arm missile pods A1 through A7, begin charging MAC guns!' 'Commander sir!' The commander leaned back his face set. 'Sir, we have rendezvous with the battle group and are being given orders from the cruiser to begin slipspace jump on the fleet-wide mark.' Lieutenant Foreman reported. 'Sir, slipspace generators are fully charged and ready.' Wellard reported. 'Make the jump on the fleet mark Lieutenant.' Aye sir.' On the view screen he could see the other six battle groups arrayed in front of him. A ping sounded over the speakers. It was the most wonderful sound commander Quincy had ever heard. Light dissapated around the Orion and it vanished from realspace along with the entire fleet. To Harvest and victory. 


	3. Harvest

1000 hours, September 18, 2531 (military calendar) /  
  
Wulpan sector, Harvest star system,  
  
Fleet entry vector  
  
Harvest hung in space like a marble, its glassy surface long since cooled. It was now just a barren cracked rock. A hundred thousand kilometers away, space distorted and shifted. Ships began appearing at random intervals around this section of space. Destroyers, frigates, carriers, and cruisers emerged from slipstream space and quickly regrouped. A series of pings sounded across the COM. The signal the begin the attack. The seven groups accelerated towards Harvest. Then the COM channels became a flurry of crossed transmissions. The Covanent fleet wasn't there. On the Orion commander Quincy rapped out commands. 'Lieutenant Allison, get me a COM channel to the Dominion on the double!' 'Sir, the COM channels are all packed tight nothing is getting in or out.' The lieutenant reported as calmly as she could manage. 'Sir, broadband transmission coming from the Dominion, its overriding the normal channels and being broadcast over private channels to each ship individually.' 'Onscreen lieutenant.' Admiral Cole's face appeared on the main viewscreen. 'This is Admiral Cole to all ships in the fleet, cease transmissions, I repeat cease transmissions you are clogging the channels and orders are not getting through.' 'I want the fleet to regroup and proceed into orbit around Harvest, Cole out.' The transmission cut out and the screen reverted to its view of the planet. 'Lieutenant Foreman, cut engine power to fifty and group with the fleet.' 'Aye sir.' Where the hell were they?. The fleet grouped up and proceeded towards Harvest. Then motes of light appeared at the fore of the fleet. Space shimmered and moved. The stars and Harvest were blocked from view. A Covanent ship appeared not one hundred kilometers in front of the lead ship. Then to it's sides space was again distorted and two more Covanent ships appeared. Then behind and to the left and right. It was an ambush! 'Full halt now!' Commander Quincy shouted as the Covanent ships appeared. The Orion ground to a halt as Lieutenant Foreman activated the emergeny thrusters on the prow of the destroyer. Commander Quincy was thrown from his chair and slammed into the metal rail in front of him. Collision warnings blared across all the ships in the fleet as one by one they came to a stop, some nearly crashing as the ship in front of them stopped. The destroyer Slalom came to a halt a little too late. The massive craft crashed into the rear of the frigate Powell. The vessels collided with devestating force. The heavier warship clipped the engine baffles of the frigate. Metal screeched and bent as the tension became to much. The entire thruster housing along with a quarter of the ship's rear was torn away from the rest on the vessel. The rear section of Powell scraped across the nose of the Slalom and tumbled off the side. On the Dominion the entire war room shook violently as thousands of tons of titanium A battleplate, travelling at hundreds of kilometers a second suddenly stopped. Machienery toppled and crashed to the deck as crewmen were thrown across the room. An ensign screamed as his station suddenly broke loose of the wall and crushed him. Admiral Cole was hurled into one of his advisors who tired to catch him as both of them fell to the deck. The admiral rolled off the man and tried to stand.  
  
Nearly every other ship in to fleet collided scraped and bumped off each other. Thrusters were fired in an attempt to slow the ships which merely added to the chaos. The Covanent ships wasted not a second of the ensueing turmoil. The pulse lasers across the hulls of the ships glowed as they built up a charge. The combined brightness of all the weaponry overloaded sensors and blacked out several screens. The Covanent ships fired as one. Bolts of plasma streaked through space and impacted with the UNSC vessels. Battleplate boiled away as the superheated charges collided along the hulls of seven frigates, two destroyers and the cruiser Epsilon. Angry patches of red appeared around the damaged sections as several of the ships vented atmosphere. The frigate Kraken took a hit to its reactor. The plasma burned through the hull and touched off the fusion core. The ship blossomed into fire as explosions ripped along the length and tore through the hull from the inside outwards. The silent force blasted out the rear of the main thrusters and melted the exhaust ports shut which cooled instantly as the atmosphere vented and the fires dimmed. The burning hulk floated dead in space.  
  
Commander Quincy opened his eyes slowly. His vison was blurred and spots flashed across his sight. He reached up to his forehead. It felt warm and moist. He drew his hand back and stared at the blood covering his fingers. He tried to rise but slipped back. He heard shouting, all around him. The noise pounded through his head. It ached so much… Someone appeared above looking down at him. 'Hold on sir this may sting a bit.' He felt a pinch at his shoulder and then something flowed into his veins. His head stopped pounding and his blood cooled. His heart rate slowed and his vision began to swim and then clear. Lieutenant Wesley kneeled over him holding and emptied syringe. His entire right pantleg was drenched in his own blood and he was shaking. He offered a trembling hand to the commander who took it gratefully. Commander Quincy struggled up, he reached out and grabbed the railing. Peering around him he took in the state of the bridge. Monitors and stations were gutted, cracked and damaged. Some were sparked out and some were on fire. Below the platform in the "brain cradle" his other three bridge officers were still at their posts, although they were injured and working frenziedly. Other crewmen were around the bridge frantically trying to put out fires and repair equipment. The entire bridge was bathed in a harsh red light. The viewscreen was a mess of static. 'D-d-damage report.' The commander said shakily. Wesley looked around hopelessly and turned to face him. 'Sir, we took a hit to the bridge from a plasma bolt.' The lieutenant pointed upwards. The entire top of the birdge was covered with the emergency hatch. 'Navigation is out, decks eight through fifteen have been burned through, Archer missile pods A4 through B3 are inoperable, reactor coolant pipes have been damaged, and the engines are offline.' The commander stared back at him. 'What's going on… what is happening outside, the battle… who ordered the crew to… The commander trailed off. 'Sendai organized the emergency response, she is in command at the moment, as for the battle… we have no way of knowing, sensors are offline we're basically dead in space in the middle of a battle sir, we could have another plasma bolt headed straight for us and not know it until we were hit.' The lieutenant just stood there staring, his eyes seemed to lose focus as he spoke up again, 'sir, are we going to die?' The question was so innocuous and simple. Yet it felt so forebodingly dooming. 'I don't know.' Was all the commander could reply.  
  
On the Dominion it was a different story however. Admiral Cole grabbed the edge of the tactical display and pulled himself up. He was unhurt. The advisor who had tried to catch him stood up as well. They looked around at the damage. Most of the crew were injured some minorly some seriously. The admiral didn't waste another moment. He strode over to the wall and hit the alarm. The emergency response teams would arrive within moments. 'Everyone, I want all essential personnel to the main bridge on the double.' With that the admiral grabbed his case and cap and dashed out of the war room. Moments later the crew poured out behind him. They passed the ships doctors, emergency workers, and engineers who passed them in the corridor. The admiral took the lift up to the bridge and entered. The bridge was darkened and devoid of life. The entire cruiser could be commanded from the war room so no personnel were needed on the bridge. The admiral called out, 'lights.' And they snapped on. He went to the command chair and started powering up the systems. The crew came in behind him. Each of his advisors took up positions in the "cradle" and began configuring the systems. The remainder of the crew started working at secondary stations that would increase efficiency. The guests came in last and stood looking rather out of place at the aft of the bridge. 'One, power up the viewscreen.' 'Aye sir.' The advisor replied and switched the wraparound screen on.  
  
The fleet appeared onscreen. It was in disarray. The Covenant ambush had caught them completely unawares. The fleet was trapped in a wide ring of Covenant ships. Along their lateral lines he saw motes of light collecting. They were charging for another blast into the fleet. They needed to do something now. Around ten frigates had been completely gutted or vaporized. One of the cruisers had taken heavy damage and three destroyers were reaching critical. 'Three begin charging MAC guns and I mean right now! Prep missile tubes A1 through A7 and give me a firing solution for the destroyer at two o'clock.' 'Aye sir.' The man responded. His fingers danced across the keyboard. 'Two, give me a fleet-wide channel.' 'Aye sir.' He paused for a moment. 'Done, ready for broadcast sir.' Cole tapped a few keys on his datapad and activated the channel. 'This is admiral Cole to all ships. Fire lateral thrusters at will, get the hell above the ring of Covenant ships and fire!' With that he cut the channel. "Sir, I've got something in the computer nets… They're trying to infiltrate our navigational database!' 'Blocking their connection now…they've traced the source and are overloading our firewall!' 'Purge the database now four.' The admiral ordered as calmly as possible, he knew what they were after… the coordinates of the Inner Colonies. 'Purging now…sir their intrusion software locked me out… reestablishing connection.' The advisors face was white. Cole turned to one of the ensigns 'You, get down to our computer data network and remove the database, I don't care if you have to rip it out with your goddamn hands just do it!' The ensign scrambled to the elevator.  
  
A blast shook the Dominion as the ventral emergency thrusters were activated. The cruiser shot upwards above the ring of ships. 'Switch to undercarriage camera now.' The screen switched to a view below the Dominion. The Covenant ships fired again. Plasma streaked through space and smashed into several more UNSC ships. 'Sir MAC guns are hot and Archer missile tubes loaded, awaiting your signal.' 'Fire, number three.' The cruiser shuddered as the Magnetic Accelerator Cannons fired. A pair of white streaks flew across the screen along with a hundred pin pricks of light. The MAC projectiles smashed into the Covenant's shields which glowed bright silver and then dimmed and faded. The archer missiles impacted along the length of the ship. The shield flared dimly and then went out. Twenty missiles got through and crashed into the hull. Fires sprang up along the metal hull… then dimmed and went out. Admiral Cole looked on with a grim face as the ship rotated and pointed upwards at his cruiser. The lateral pulse lasers began charging again. 'Damnit' he whispered under his breath. 'Three, charge the MAC guns again, load tubes B1 through B7. 'Aye sir.' 'one, the second they release those plasma bolts accelerate as fast as you can towards them.' 'Sir?' 'Do it!' 'Yes sir!' Several other ships blasted upwards out of the ring and fired. Three MAC shots crashed into one of the alien carriers. The shields were snuffed out. Hundreds of missiles impacted across the hull along with another MAC round. The round punctured the hull in the center and carved straight through the top decks. The Archer missiles entered into the gap moments later and detonated. Explosions blasted out of either end of the ship before splitting the entire craft along the center. The two shorn halves drifted lifelessly apart still flaming.  
  
'Two, reopen the fleet-wide channel.' 'Aye sir…channel open.' 'This is Admiral Cole to all ships once you are above the Covenant split into two groups and drop around behind them.' He cut the channel. 'Sir, plasma away, accelerating now!' number one shouted. 'Number three rotate missile pods to track oncoming plasma and fire on my mark.' 'Aye sir.' He turned and stared straight at the oncoming plasma, concentrating…'Fire topside thrusters now!' The cruiser shook violently as it ducked under the oncoming plasma. 'Mark, fire missiles now!' The missiles sped at the plasma, which angled back around towards cruiser. The two projectiles crashed together and detonated sparking through space. The plasma had been unable to veer away from the oncoming missiles. The Dominion continued on a collision course for the Covenant destroyer. 'Fire MAC guns now!' The admiral barked. 'Aye sir… MAC projectiles away!' A thumping sound resounded as the guns fired. The MAC shots smashed across the fore of the ship, one actually bouncing once across the hull before going in through the top at an angle…and exiting through the exhaust ports. The other shot went straight through from stem to stern. The ship listed crazily as fires appeared unchecked across its hull. 'Course correction one one eight point four declination now!' The cruiser veered up and away from the wrecked vessel. 'Come about at point zero zero five and reduce speed to thirty percent.' 'Aye sir.' The advisor replied tersely. Apparently the last maneuver had left him a little high strung. 'Sir, the nav database has been purged.' number four said and slumped in his chair. While the admiral had been fighting the ensign had managed to tear out the nav database. 'Switch to fore camera now.' 'Aye sir.' The viewscreen switched to a view of the fleet. They had managed to get around behind the ring of enemy ships and were creating their own ring. Although already more than a third of the fleet had been either destroyed or seriously damaged. The hulks of the UNSC ships drifted across the battle area. The admiral said a silent prayer of thanks to the brave crewmen who had died fighting. This war wasn't worth its cost…  
  
1020 Hours, September 18, 2531 (military calendar) /  
  
UNSC destroyer Orion, Wulpan sector, Harvest star system  
  
Ninety seven thousand kilometers from Harvest  
  
The viewscreen on the Orion flickered, once. Then slowly the camera came into focus as the static dissipated. Commander Quincy stood by his chair. A bandage was wrapped tightly around his head, a large bloody spot showed through the white cloth over his left eye. 'Sir, viewscreen operational.' One of the engineers announced. The scene outside was horrific. Burning hulks of UNSC ships surrounded the Orion. They could just see the remaining UNSC warships moving away to surround the Covenant craft. Most of the crew just stared open mouthed at the scene of destruction. Apparently they had been taken for just another destroyed hulk. Or so they thought…'Sir, sensors are back online and… Jesus Christ! Sir, Covenant frigate inbound at three o'clock!' Quincy spun around to face lieutenant Wellard. 'Onscreen lieutenant.' He ordered a little shakily. The viewscreen switched to the starboard camera. The sharp angular Covenant ship plowing through the wreckage towards them. A hatch opened on the side of the ship and several smaller craft rocketed out. They turned and started heading towards the Orion. 'Sir, dropships inbound…they're going to board us!' One of the ships reached the Orion's starboard docking bay and latched on. 'Sir, they're cutting through the outer docking hatch!' 'Lieutenant, sound general quarters and evacuate that docking bay then seal it off. 'Aye sir.' An alarm klaxon blared through the ship. 'Get every able bodied crewman to the weapons locker and start distributing weapons, position barricades in the halls and seal all compartments after that.' 'Aye sir.' The emergency response team dropped their tools and dashed for the lift. 'Sir, I count twenty drop ships.' The AI reported. 'Sendai, what is our weapon status?' 'Sir MAC guns within operable parameters, 50mm cannons at 100% ammunition, Archer missile pods A1 to A3 and B5 through E7 operational, Shiva warheads in launch tubes. 'Begin point defense against those incoming ships.' 'Aye sir.' The screen flashed as the cannons rotated and began firing. Thousands of rounds pinged off the dropship's hulls. 'Lieutenant Raker prep Archer missile pods A1 to A3 and target the dropships.' 'Aye sir…tubes loaded and prepped.' 'Fire at will lieutenant.' 'Archer missiles away.' The missiles streaked away from the Orion and tracked the last of the incoming ships. They impacted and detonated. Five of the dropships flared and then began disintegrate as the pressure struggled to equalize. 'Sir, the dropships have cut through the outer doors and are beginning to burn through the inner airlock doors.' 'Lieutenant Raker, begin charging MAC capacitors and prep the remaining missiles.' 'Aye sir.' 'Give me a firing solution on the Covenant frigate.' 'Aye sir, capacitors at fifty percent charge and increasing.' The Covenant ship just floated there, no weapons charging, nothing. 'Sir, Covenant have breached the inner airlock doors and are in the bay!' reported Wellard. 'MAC guns are hot sir, Archer missiles ready to fire.' 'Fire.' Commander Quincy said. 'MAC projectiles away, Archer missiles following.' It was probably the luckiest shot in all of UNSC's naval history. As the projectiles streaked forward the Covenant frigate dropped its shields to deploy another set of dropships. The rounds went straight into the open bay doors and clean out the other side. The Archer missiles followed suit and detonated inside the docking bay. The ship spun in space and vented atmosphere. As the gutted craft lost control the pilot attempted to stabilize by firing the maneuvering thrusters. Instead, when he did so the ship crashed into the burning hulk of the UNSC frigate Powell. The superstructures of the two craft fused together in the intense heat, which cooled moments later. The disabled Covenant vessel along with the frigate Powell floated silently off. Raker stared open-mouthed at the wrecked Covenant vessel as it spun away. 'There isn't anything else we can do up here, get down to the weapons locker everyone and man the barricades.' 'This isn't over yet…' 


End file.
